Battle Mage Chapter 20

Jules struggles to recover. Meanwhile Carlos has a surprise waiting for him.

The sun rose and fell on another night. The city with its secrets began to conspire once again. Jules had enough of the hospital. In a corner room surrounded by blackness was a detective who watched over the living dark. His name would be Detective Lamont and he had missed too much work as of late.

    He walked to his flip phone and pressed the button. The only light in the room was from the small midget screen. It welcomed his return to the world of mystery and allure. Jules was sure his friends were out there. They had wanted their revenge. He remembered their tone listening in on their conversations the day before. The warlock had known their identities. He had the edge. Jules would not be content letting this one sided game continue at its current course.

    “I need to step up my game.” He stretched his back up right and realized all his pain returned to him. At his twenties, he would have been quicker to recover. As a kid he thought age caught up in the fourties. If he knew just how quickly his body would begin to fall apart this early he might have lightened up his heavy lifestyle a couple years back.

    The hero crime solver would return and villainy would run. Jules found himself enjoying playing the noir hero, adding even a little bit of romanticism. There was no real world waiting for his return. Except for the chief and Detective Todd. That’s right, in this alias he had a partner. One who liked atrocious heavy metal music and lame jokes. Detective Todd must have been wondering where the ficticious Detective Lamont went. Jules needed to be better at maintaining their relationship especially with a serial killer on the loose.  

    That was his edge. Carlos had the power of the mayors office and any political clout and insider information. Anna had worked hard to become an editor and she knew the pulse of the city better than anyone. Jules had the power of the police and law enforcement. With these three major elements the criminal would not be able to hide for long. All he needed now was to find a way home and make a few calls to his police partners.

    “You have three new messages.” His automated system said. He hated the b***h’s voice.

    He clicked the number one button to play them.

    “This is Chief Pavlik calling for Detective Lamont. Its been three days since you last checked. In. I am hoping to the high heavens that are out there that you havent pulled your signature Hudini act. Detective Todd thinks he found a new lead in the Celeb Hunter killings but he really is interested in running this by you. Also, we are hearing word that the FBI is sending someone real soon. it’s one thing to be on temporary lease to our station and another explaining this clusterfuck to the federal government.”

    The pause made Jules really think. It was one thing to brainwash the head of the police department that he was an officer who could come and go whenever he wanted. It was a strange thing to contemplate running that by an outsider FBI agent.

    Hi my name is Detective Lamont, this fake piece of paper is my identity that you can’t touch or reverify on your own, and now your not going to hear from me for another couple months because logic doesn’t apply to me.

    That was an overreach in illusionary magic Jules was not looking forward to doing. The best thing would be to keep his head low and try an schmooze as subtle as possible with the outsider agent. Plus Todd had a lead?

    “Hi partner. I heard you are inactive a bit.” It was his partner Detective Todd. “But I hope you come in, I have been running this theory that I really need to get by you. You see, last night there were two bodies…”

    Jules stopped dead in his tracks. Two bodies? The Celeb Hunter, no, the warlock they were hunting, kills his target and only witnesses. What would this mean?

    “State Senator Killian Trust and State Senator Upton Sax were found floating in a canal. The water caused a lot of bloating and we are having a hard time figuring out what the cause of death is but there are signs of violence and the Canal was used to dump their bodies. Please get back to mne as soon as you can. I don’t know how I know, but I am certain this is him.”

    Jules found his body hurting a lot more that he thought it would and he wanted to pass out. Todd had hunches for days. His logical skills never seemed to compete with his actual gut instincts. Timothy once made a mention in passing that his detective partner probably was naturally sensitive to the forces around him. Jules remembered briefly thinking about training him but realized that it would derail his friend’s destiny entirely.

    The silence grew and lingered as the message ended. There was a third message waiting for him. Dread grew. He could almost hear the voice of the person who possessed Carlos’s body. The moment between his friends last pause and the new message inbound made his hair stand on end. Would it just be laughter? Would smoke just come from the phone and then he would be attacked by someone far stronger than him?

    The heart was pounding and trembling in a beat and meter that was inconsistent. Painful, He was alone in this room and he wanted to crawl and hide. He was just too weak.

    “Jules. I am sorry for sending you the message I just guess I was really hoping you would answer. And you know, you didin.t.” It was Lucy’s voice. His phobia melted completely. She continued. In him mind’s eye he let her come from the phone and in the room with him. She was by his side and putting her arm around his back, pressing his head on the inside of her other shoulder. She had him wrapped in this aura of protection and healing. He was safe.

    “I am not really good at leaving messages but. Um…” she was nervous, but he imagined it was a place of humanity. “You saved my life. You saved our lives. And, Carlos and Anna took me home. Jessica made a weird observation that someone placed magical wards around my house. It is probably best though. With everything that’s happened these past twenty four hours I don’t know who to talk to. But I guess in a couple of days is our next meeting. Right? Maybe we can talk then? I do hope you are feeling better.”

     The last message ended. Jules stood tall. He was going home tonight. He was going back to his life and not one of being the victim.

    At 9 p.m. a random person walked out of a hospital room. No one knew who he was or gave him a second thought. Any record of him was quickly misplaced and he was a forgotten soul. Thirty minutes later, across the city a dog was awaken from her master coming home. She tried to jump on him and give him licks but within a few minutes they were on their favorite couch and she was laying down across his lap while he watched colors coming from a black square on the wall.



     Thirty minutes past nine. The rain had already been pouring for the past hour in the downtown district. Perhaps in the distance it was dry, but Carlos’ vision was obscured from the window by the dark of night. The haze of water and fog was apropriate for what he was feeling. He was trapped in a damn meeting with the mayor, the govorner and an elite group of state senators and some a******s from an outside organization trying to make land claims in town. If he could just be outside and dance in the rain, maybe the world would disapear.

    He forgot that he was no longer a kid. Carlos Diaz, battle mage, advisor to the mayor, and most importantly he was the shadow behind the throne. Jules had eyes in the police and Anna had her news paper to feel the pulse of the City. Carlos had the lousy job of sucking up to rich snobs who he would love to take out back with a switch from a tree. Instead he was the mayors token Latino and this was one of those days were he felt it more than others.

    The last week was spent looking up plans for the Museum, trying to catch background in the movements of a stupid painting. The whole thing had been a fiasco. What hurt most was his protégée abandoning them. It wasn’t just fear, it was based on a selfishness that Luke betrayed the group. He could see Lucy’s eyes staring back at him even in the night. She was hurt, scared, and betrayed. He sensed it in the air, at the scene when everything had ended. “I sacrifice thee.” She was his way out. The tear that he had been fighting had returned. It was for a moment but he needed to wipe it away.

    One thing that had driven Carlos ever since he found out Anna’s secret was his pride. Even he knew he had been getting worse and more stubborn as these years went by and there were times when his pride was getting on his own nerves. Luke was never the right man for the job. He knew this, and now more than ever he realized the whole mistake was based on a moment of jealousy he lied to himself about a couple years back.

    The sound of water hitting the glass, the wind was strong, let his mind wander to that moment he first laid eyes on college girl Lucy. Jules had walked her in the room with his head down. It was as if Jules was about to apologize for a big favor or if looking forward, apologizing for creating a fundamental change in the group. Lucy looked like she had no idea where she was or why she was there.

    Carlos pictured the cold of the fog on his finger tips. In the reflection he saw the people coming and going from the room. They had been waiting for him. The meeting had started two minutes ago according to his cell phone. No new texts as usual.

    A man approached him in a nice suit, slightly funky hair. He was almost styled to perfection but left a but of himself untamed to give himself personality. “Diaz, are you ready? They are starting without you. You know how the mayor gets a little funny the longer you are away.”

    “Thanks Peirce. I was just thinking to myself. What do you think of these CanaCor people.”

    The two men walked into the room. Carlos instantly upon being under the door frame smelled living arrogance and an orgy of money playing musical chairs. The Mayor was smiling like a kid at the candy store and that was never a good moment.

    “Gentlemen of this great city, I do so apologize for my…”

    “Just the Mexican we were waiting for.” The mayor did a laugh and expected everyone to follow suit. No one did.

    “As I was saying, I do apologize for taking my sweet time. I just have a lot of personal things on my mind as I am sure in these times many of us do. For those who don’t know, my name is Carlos Diaz and I am assistant to the Mayor. I thank you all for coming in and…”

    The room was wide fitted with many expensive works of art. The table was a fresh antique with some storied history that cannot even be touched but varnished for maximum effect. It cost the city alone more than Carlos’s paycheck. In the corner seat, the mayors “guest of honor” sat a dark haired fellow. The gentleman’s hair was slick backed with comb and gel and shined with light in the room. His suit was probably more expensive than the table he was sitting at.

    “You are the power behind the throne I suspect.” The CEO of CanaCor got up and smiled with bright teeth that looked so amazing they might be fake. He was flanked by his lawyers and some nerdy looking girl.

    Carlos tried to play off the compliment instantly and noticed the Mayor look just a bit too irritated by that last statement. “Mr. Diaz helps me with a lot of decisions with running this city, however he is here as merely a formality. Now, when he decides to sit in his place we can begin the meeting proper. You see I really do care about having all my team present at all times during important moments.”

    It was a moment of trying to look benevolent. Carlos laughed at himself and realized the Mayor had felt cuckolded. He was a hypocrite as was everyone in the entire room. He enjoyed on the inside that he knew at the end of the meeting who was really in charge.

    The lady stood up, “Before we begin I would like to go over the details of our last meeting that we had.” Carlos frowned realizing that there was a previous meeting that he had not been apart of. Shifty b*****d.

    “I am Chester Smith’s personal and business lawyer Chelsea Close. For the past couple of days we have been in talks with city zoning, and the local lawmakers in order to purchase land rights to some historic settlements in the city history.”

    Carlos leaned forward in his chair. He knew about the plans to take up land but he was shocked with how aggressive this process was moving forward. He wanted to say something.

    “My name is Chester Smith, CEO of Canada Corp. We are really looking forward to bringing a massive multimillion, potential billion dollar investment and revenue stream in the city. Mr. Diaz? I assume you have heard of us and our interest in the city, but I apologize that you were absent as were a couple of people in this room for our last meeting. That is why I am going to do my best to bring you up to speed.

    “We are going to start by building a foundation. As such the Historic Castle, once made as a tribute to Spanish Nobility would be a great image in which we consolidate our brand.”

    His lawyer than spoke up. “The organization may be from Canada but our image will be that we are local, and we will support local.”

    The dark haired, slick CEO than put his hand in the air and tilted towards the Mayor, but addressed the room, “we will then expand our business directly into the historical downtown district. The buildings could use renovations but, that will increase your land value, plus the buildings we don’t touch could go up in value as they ‘preserve’ the purity of the city. Even what we don’t touch will make you money.”

    “This sounds fantastic! Am I right everyone?” The mayor nodded then tried to look at his “yes men.” They started nodded.

    Carlos could feel he was losing the room. “And what exactly business would you be bringing into the city, and why does that make us give you precious land that should not be commercialized to begin with“”

    “Will you answer this Ms. Close?” The CEO had snapped his fingers.

    She stared at him, like a tiger. “There is no such thing as ‘not for sale.’ If you are not in the bussiness of making this city more money, taxed or otherwise, than you should not be here.”

    He realized he was being attacked. The Mayor then nodded. Carlos looked in surprise. This situation was running out of control and even worse, the truth was he never had a say in this the moment he entered the room.

    “Ms. Close, that was a bit brutal. The point is, we are on your team. We are on this cities team. Jobs? We got them in thousands. Together we can raise the median income of this city, maybe even the state exponentially.”

    Carlos counted the state legislators and lawmakers in the room. This was a prelude to a vote no doubt that would need to pass. “So, I take it, you are all in agreement with this?” He addressed the politicians there. He slowly felt around in their minds and even those who tried to stat silent, were feeling overly positive by this.

    Brainwashing has a weakness against those strong with greed. Carlos knew that as shady as this deal was, it would take along time alone with the Mayor before he could “convince” him against this. He didn’t have time, and he was in a room with other like minded people which created a hive mindset.

    And then there was the washed up bodies of the two local state senators that popped up.

    “I see Senator Thomas and Harkins are not here.”

    He felt something, he couldn’t put his finger on what, but there was a split moment shift in the feeling of the room.

    “Is that some sick joke Diaz?” Peirce looked at him in shock.

    “Yes, we all know the knews and while one was a democrat, the other was a republican. They never agreed on a single thing, but with both of them gone, I can’t help feel that it would be two less voices in this matter. The way we are moving this forward is just so,..”

    “Mr. Diaz, are you assuming that we are rushing this through to spite that the local government is in the middle of a tragedy?” The lawyer frowned and begun to take a political “how dare you” voice.

    “Now now Ms. Close. I was unaware that you had two people who have passed away but neither of those two have been factored in this meeting. Everyone we want here is here. Including you. I hear you have a great influence on the ear of the mayor. It is why I am hoping to get your blessing.”

    In a rare moment, Carlos almost felt a psychic message come from the Mayor, “Don’t ruin this for me.”

    Carlos closed his eyes for a moment but it felt so much longer. He withdrew his mind and took a view of the situation. He was losing this battle and he didn’t even know what he wanted out of this situation. Was it his pride? Did he feel like he was losing his power?

    Carlos Diaz, the kid from the apartments grew to be an alpha in his school. He was athletic and likeable. That version of him felt the situation was a negative to the town and he couldn’t put his finger on how. Diaz, the politician was shrewd and pretended to be a man who crawled to be an elite in the city. What would he advise the mayor?

    He did not know.


    Carlos Diaz was driving home later that night. Two hours of group dick sucking. He had a missed call from Jules. Either he was worse, or he was better from his hospital visit. The driver just sighed feeling foolish at himself. He didn’t know how to face Jules right now. He didn’t even want to try. They had a meeting of the Battle Mages soon. Maybe they could talk more then. If not, Carlos in his feeling of self defeat did not care.

    His next step would be to find out what Anna was able to recover about CanaCor. The last twenty four hours though have been him texting her and her not responding with any level on enthusiasm. So it looks like they were back to that phase again. He was the one being generous to her after what she did.

    The off ramp was coming and all he wanted to do was sleep. He also wanted to take a shower but nothing could wash away the s**t he had been through for these past couple of days. The road branched off into abyss like that of a horror movie. He knew that if it was sunny this would be the happiest neighborhoods in the world. The darkness was often deceptive. He started to see some of the lights come up. His stop would be coming soon.

    The lone car on the road made its way to a stop sign then turned right. It made its way into the cul-de-sac and Carlos found his warm house.

    He flipped a button hidden on his visor and the lights in the house illuminated immediately. It was a warm way to welcome himself after such a day. He felt the car talk back to him as he went over the hump into his drive way. The clutch went into park and he opened his car door. The unlocked open door music greated him and said its goodbye as he closed the door behind him. It was the only noise made in the neighborhood.

    He took a step on the grass. The newly coated grass gave his shoe a little give as it found its place. He walked through to the stone path. The wooden step leading up to the doorway was now in front of him and he could see in.

    A home is where one is supposed to feel safe. It keeps the world out and provides warmth in the winter and a cool air in the summer. Inside are meals, beverage, four walls and a bed. A home is where one is supposed to feel safe.

    Carlos opened the door.

    In the hall way, in a daze, filled with anger, Luke was waiting for him.  

Author's Note

Feedback welcome! I had a touch of epilepsy during the writing of this chapter so I do not know how that has effected the writing quality.